The present disclosure relates to subject matter contained in Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-141275, filed on May 15, 2000, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated herein by reference its entirety.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a computer readable recording medium where a ball game program is recorded and to the program which, for example, controls players and the ball in the ball game as well as to a ball game processing device and method.
2. Description of the Related Art
As for sports-type games today not only one-to-one games but, also, team games, such as tennis, soccer, basketball, American football and baseball, have been developed.
To play those sports-type games for operation it is necessary to input using an operation unit (such as an operation panel and keypad) prepared in advance for an arcade entertainment machine or a game machine (such as PlayStation (made by Sony Computer Entertainment Co. Ltd.) or Dreamcast (made by Sega Enterprises Co. Ltd.)).
The operation unit is, in general, formed of keys (or buttons) or joysticks. The operational system is organized with a limited number of buttons and joysticks on the operation unit, either for sports-type games or role playing games. Games are, of course, able to be played on a personal computer and, when a keyboard is used, keys on the keyboard are allocated for the keys necessary for the game operation.
In general, as for ball games such as baseball, soccer, basketball or the like among sports-type games, the movement of the ball itself cannot be operated by buttons or joysticks. Instead, the user is able to operate the movement of the player holding the ball or the movement of the player reacting to the approaching ball and, thereby, the subsequent direction of, or momentum of, ball movement are operated indirectly.
In a baseball game, in the case that the ball hit by the batter goes toward the short stop under the condition where there are no runners on base, it is possible to make the short stop catch the ball within the possible action range of the short stop. When the ball is caught the user can input the operation for throwing the ball toward first base so that the short stop throws the ball to first base. If the first baseman has already covered first base the thrown ball is caught by the first baseman. In this way, under the condition where the short stop caught the ball, it is possible to indicate where the ball is thrown next by the operational input (button operation) of the user.
With respect to this type of technology, for example, there exists the Japanese patent publication 2502473. In this publication, technology is disclosed for the determination of the base to which the ball is thrown, and the subsequent movement of the ball to the determined base, in response to the button operation of the user after confirmation that the fielder has caught the ball.
As in the above described publication, conventionally the place to which the ball is moved (in the above publication a base is indicated) is input through the operation at the time when the ball is received (in the above publication indicating when the ball is caught) by the player (in the above publication indicating a fielder) and, therefore, the user needs to pay attention to the timing when the player receives the ball.
Therefore, in a baseball game, in the case when a user who is not accustomed to the operation operates, the immediate operation cannot be inputted when the fielder catches the ball and there are some cases where the timing of making an out of a batter or a runner may be off.
And, in the case that, a user who has become accustomed to the operation operates, the operational input cannot be accepted in spite of the fact the base to which the ball is thrown can be expected before the fielder catches the ball, there are some cases where the frustration is given with respect to the ease of operation by the user.
Though in the above, the case of a baseball game is described as an example, other ball games, such as soccer, basketball, tennis, American football, ice hockey or the like can be substituted.
The purpose of the present invention is to provide a computer readable recording medium where a ball game program is recorded and the program where the place to which the ball is moved is able to be input and designated to the most suitable timing while balancing the movement of the displayed players and the ease of operation by the user as well as a ball game processing device and method.
In order to achieve the above described purpose, according to the first mode of this invention, a computer readable recording medium is provided, where a program of a ball game, that implements a ball game in which the movement of players and a ball are controlled on a display using buttons, is recorded, and where the program is recorded for making the computer implement: accepting a button operation by a user even before a player receives the ball; making each of the buttons, respectively, correspond to a different predetermined place to which the ball is moved in accordance with the game in progress and judging the predetermined place to which the ball is moved, to which the operated button is made to correspond, in response to the button operation by the user; and displaying the motion wherein the ball is moved to the predetermined place which has been judged with respect to the player.
According to the second mode of the present invention, a computer readable recording medium is provided, where a program of a ball game, that implements a ball game in which the movement of players and a ball are controlled on a display using buttons, is recorded, and where the program is recorded for making the computer implement: accepting a button operation by a user even before a player receives the ball; making each of the buttons, respectively, correspond to a different predetermined place to which the ball is moved in accordance with the game in progress and judging the predetermined place to which the ball is moved, to which the operated button is made to correspond, in response to the button operation by the user in the case that the button operation by the user is accepted before the player receives the ball; and displaying the motion wherein the ball is moved to the predetermined place, which has been judged with respect to the player, including the condition before the ball is received by the player.
According to the third mode of the present invention, a program of a ball game, that implements a ball game in which the movement of players and a ball are controlled on a display using buttons, is provided for making a computer implement: accepting a button operation by a user even before a player receives the ball; making each of the buttons, respectively, correspond to a different predetermined place to which the ball is moved in accordance with the game in progress and judging the predetermined place to which the ball is moved, to which the operated button is made to correspond, in response to the button operation by the user; and displaying the motion wherein the ball is moved to the predetermined place which has been judged with respect to the player.
According to the fourth mode of the present invention, a program of a ball game, that implements a ball game in which the movement of players and a ball are controlled on a display using buttons, is provided for making a computer implement: accepting a button operation by a user even before a player receives the ball; making each of the buttons, respectively, correspond to a different predetermined place to which the ball is moved in accordance with the game in progress and judging the predetermined place to which the ball is moved, to which the operated button is made to correspond, in response to the button operation by the user in the case that the button operation by the user is accepted before the player receives the ball; and displaying the motion wherein the ball is moved to the predetermined place, which has been judged with respect to the player, including the condition before the ball is received by the player.
According to the fifth mode of the present invention, a ball game processing device is provided which includes a computer readable recording medium where a program, that implements a ball game in which the movement of players and a ball are controlled on a display using buttons, is recorded; a computer which reads out at least part of the program from the recording medium so as to be implemented; and a display for displaying the ball game implemented by the computer, wherein the computer reads out at least part of the program from the recording medium and includes: accepting a button operation by a user even before a player receives the ball; making each of the buttons, respectively, correspond to a different predetermined place to which the ball is moved in accordance with the game in progress and judging the predetermined place to which the ball is moved, to which the operated button is made to correspond, in response to the button operation by the user; and displaying, on the display, the motion wherein the ball is moved to the predetermined place which has been judged with respect to the player.
According to the sixth mode of the present invention, a ball game processing device is provided which includes: a computer readable recording medium where a program, that implements a ball game in which the movement of players and a ball are controlled on a display using buttons, is recorded; a computer which reads out at least part of the program from the recording medium so as to be implemented; and a display for displaying the ball game implemented by the computer, wherein the computer reads out at least part of the program from the recording medium and includes: accepting a button operation by a user even before a player receives the ball; making each of the buttons, respectively, correspond to a different predetermined place to which the ball is moved in accordance with the game in progress and judging the predetermined place to which the ball is moved, to which the operated button is made to correspond, in response to the button operation by the user in the case that the button operation by the user is accepted before the player receives the ball; and displaying, on the display, the motion wherein the ball is moved to the predetermined place, which has been judged with respect to the player, including the condition before the ball is received by the player.
According to the seventh mode of the present invention, a method for processing a ball game is provided, that implements a ball game in which the movement of players and a ball are controlled on a display using buttons, and the method for processing a ball game includes: accepting a button operation by a user even before a player receives the ball; making each of the buttons, respectively, correspond to a different predetermined place to which the ball is moved in accordance with the game in progress and judging the predetermined place to which the ball is moved, to which the operated button is made to correspond, in response to the button operation by the user; and displaying the motion wherein the ball is moved to the predetermined place which has been judged with respect to the player.
According to the eighth mode of the present invention, a method for processing a ball game is provided, that implements a ball game in which the movement of players and a ball are controlled on a display using buttons, and the method for processing a ball game includes: accepting a button operation by a user even before a player receives the ball; making each of the buttons, respectively, correspond to a different predetermined place to which the ball is moved in accordance with the game in progress and judging the predetermined place to which the ball is moved, to which the operated button is made to correspond, in response to the button operation by the user in the case that the button operation by the user is accepted before the player receives the ball; and displaying the motion wherein the ball is moved to the predetermined place, which has been judged with respect to the player, including the condition before the ball is received by the player.
And in each of the modes of the present invention, the computer may further be made to implement displaying the motion wherein the ball is moved to the predetermined place which is so judged with respect to the player as well as displaying the movement of the ball to the predetermined place as being so judged following the display of the motion.